I realize there are 3 things that have changed the face of my retirement sooo much from the last generation:

1. Technology - The internet has become my Boomer career. Not only do I live and breathe in this website but I also spend an incredible amount of time trying to increase my exposure and thus chances of selling homes through internet farming and SEO for my Real Estate business.

2. Technology - Now that I am basically retired i can do whatever I want, right? That means I can shop when I want, I can go to the movies when I want, I can eat where I want and I can travel when I want. If I want to do something now (which I have my own permission to do) I turn first to the internet to research the best alternatives before I do anything. I don't shop for anything without first finding the best deals...and then I look for discount coupons to boot. I don't go to the movies without first checking out what's playing at the local theaters and what movies have the highest ratings. I don't eat without checking out the local restaurant specials and what discounts they offer. I certainly won't travel without spending hours researching where I want to go, what I can do when I get there, where I should stay, eat and spend my money and once again, what discounts are available.

3. Technology - Now that I'm getting a little older, my body seems to have a mind of it's own. It makes new and interesting noises when I get out of bed in the morning. It let's me know that I have been using and abusing it for 50 odd years. Where once I was a constant standing monument to manhood now I've become a rather impassive and distracted old soul that is contemplating massive hormone therapies. But, Thanks to the internet, I am my own worst doctor. I can look up what ailments are bugging me and what to do to combat them. Where our past generations were in the dark about their health problems and many felt they were the only person on earth to suffer through the embarrassment of plaque psoriasis, male pattern balding orerectile dysfunction issues, now I know for sure, because of the technology of the internet, that I am just like 52% of world population suffering from some form of male "performance" issues.

Yep, it's tough to be a man nowadays. But at least, because of the miracles of modern technology, I know I am not alone. Why don't you check out the great articles in this week's "Baby Boomer Guidebook" that talk about just this same subject.

Every year, as tax season nears, there is an abundance of emails, charts and graphs that make the rounds of the internet talking about several larger charities and how much of your money that is donated goes to actual charitable services and how much winds up in the pockets of the CEO or company principals attempting to steer potential donors away from inefficient charities.

They all start out basically the same like:

“As you open your pockets for yet another natural disaster, keep the following facts in mind; we have listed them from the highest (worse paid offender) to the lowest (least paid offender)."

"The worst offender was yet again for the 11th year in a row. Their CEO receives $1,200,000 per year plus use of a Royal Royce for his exclusive use where ever he goes, and an expense account that is rumored to be well over $150,000."

"Only pennies from the actual donations go to the UNICEF cause - less than $0.14 per dollar of income."

“CEO and owner Mark Curran profits $2.3 million a year. Goodwill is a very catchy name for his business. You donate to his business and then he sells the items for PROFIT. He pays nothing for his products and pays his workers minimum wage! Nice Guy. $0.00 goes to help anyone! Stop giving to this man. “

Well, fellow Survive55 followers, I have often wondered if these are indeed true accusations of the charities we have always admired or if these are inaccurate facts and fabrications circulating the World Wide Web knowing that our generation has always been very charitable and supportive of our fellow human beings especially around the holidays.

In fact, I found out in a survey commissioned by Blackbaud, which provides software to nonprofits, that not only are Baby Boomers the largest group of "donators" numerically, with 51 million individuals comprising 34% of the donor base, they are also the largest contributors, giving an estimated total of $61.9 billion per year (43% of all the dollars donated).

I have done my research and today I bring you good news.

Starting with Snopes, probably the best known rumor examination website and digging deeply into the Better Business Bureau, Charity Navigator, Charity Watch and the American Institute of Philanthropy I found that the state of charitable organizations is not as awful as you would think.

In fact, it is quite heart-warming.

I will attempt to present accurate and up-to-date information about the named charities below.

When deciding which charities to donate to, experts consider an important factor to be the "efficiency" of these organizations — that is, what percentage of the monies taken in by a given charity goes to funding its mission rather than being eaten up by costs such as fundraising activities, salaries, and other administrative overhead.

Charitable groups considered the best generally spend 75% or more of their budgets on non-profit and donation programs, spend $25 or less to raise $100 in public support, do not hold excessive assets in reserve, and receive "open-book" status for disclosure of basic financial information and documents.

Salary information is taken from Schedule J (Compensation Information) of the various charities' IRS Form 990 filings, an annual reporting return that certain federally tax-exempt organizations must file with the IRS which provides information on the filing organization's mission, programs, and finances.

Strangely enough, much of the information presented in the emails l spoke about above was inaccurate back in 2005, and it has grown only more so in the years since then, resulting in a misleading and very outdated view of various charities.

It is a not-for-profit organization that provides job training, employment placement services and other community-based programs for people who have disabilities, lack education or job experience, or face employment challenges.

Goodwill raises money for their programs through a chain of thrift stores which also operate as non-profits.

Goodwill Industries International is America’s second largest nonprofit, according to Forbes.com’s annual “America’s 200 Largest Nonprofits” list.

Goodwill Charitable Commitment is 88%. The charitable commitment statistic calculates how much of total expense went directly to the charitable purpose as opposed to management, certain overhead and fundraising.

Their Fundraising Efficiency is 99%. The fundraising efficiency ratio shows the amount of contributions left after subtracting the cost of getting them.

The CEO of Goodwill Industries International is not Mark Curran, nor does he make $2.3 million a year.

The current President and CEO of Goodwill is Jim Gibbons, who in 2011 received a total reported compensation of $725,000.

The American Red Cross

Program Expenses or the percent of this charity’s budget spent on the programs and services it delivers is over 90%.

Their administrative expenses are 4%. Their fundraising expenses are just over 5% and the fundraising efficiency is only 23 cents of each dollar of donations received.

United Way Worldwide

Who cares what the CEO of this charity makes?

They are considered a 4 star charity with a 66 rating from Charity Navigator.

Their Program Expenses or the percent of this charity’s budget spent on the programs and services it delivers is also over 90%.

Their fundraising expenses are under 3% and the fundraising efficiency is only 3 cents of each dollar of donations received.

March of Dimes

Charity Navigator rates the March of Dimes' efficiency at 64.6%, a fair bit lower than most of the charities mentioned here, but much higher than the 10% figure claimed in the e-mails floating around the internet.

UNICEF

Charity Navigator rates this organization at 63.3 efficiency with over 90% of their expenses going to charitable functions.

This means that only 6 cents of each dollar is used for salaries and administrative costs.

Ronald McDonald Houses

Ronald McDonald House charities operate at local levels in dozens of different metropolitan areas in the U.S. with varying levels of efficiency.

Charity Navigator rates the efficiency of theparentorganization very highly at 89.5%.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Charity Navigator rates the efficiency of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital very high at 70.3%, but considerably lower than the 100% figure claimed in the traveling emails.

Salvation Army

The information presented in the circulating emails is outdated, as W. Todd Bassett stepped down as National Commander of The Salvation Army in April 2006.

The current National Commander of the Salvation Army (since 2010) is William A. Roberts.

The Salvation Army is not required to file a Form 990 with the IRS because it is primarily a religious organization, but according to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), Roberts' last reported total annual compensation was $126,920, much higher than the $13,000 reported above.

Forbes rates this organization's efficiency at 82%, a fair bit lower than the 93% figure claimed in the e-mails.

Basically good news isn’t it?

There really is some good in this world after all.

Sure there are some CEO's making big bucks running big organizations but that holds true for the entire corporate world and being the figurehead for a company whose success is based solely on how many donations they receive is very tough work.

To gain a better understanding of giving trends for the 2013 year-end giving season, I found two surveys on Charity Navigator that you might find interesting: one targeted at donors and one for charity representatives.

The surveys explored the:

Predictions for year-end giving (will it be greater, less than or the same as last year)

Importance of year-end donations and online giving to the charities’ bottom line

Contributions are deductible in the year made. Thus, donations charged to a credit card before the end of 2013 count for 2013. This is true even if the credit card bill isn't paid until 2014. Also, checks count for 2013 as long as they are mailed in 2013 and clear, shortly thereafter.

Middle-class Americans give a far bigger share of their discretionary income to charities than the rich. A report by The Chronicle of Philanthropy showed that households that earn $50,000 to $75,000 give an average of 7.6% of their discretionary income to charity, compared with an average of 4.2% for people who make $100,000 or more.

Individuals spent less time volunteering in 2012, but nearly 26.5% of the adults in the United States volunteered with an organization that year. Volunteers contributed 12.7 billion hours in 2012, worth an estimated $259.6 billion.

The average person makes 24% of their annual donations between Thanksgiving and New Year's, according to research from the Center on Philanthropy.

Women of the baby boom and older generations give 89% more than their male counterparts, Women's Philanthropy Institute research shows.

After a successful inaugural effort during the fall of 2012, a unique giving experience will took place again this year on December 3rd, 2013. It is called #GivingTuesday and it is catching on across the country and around the world. This movement aims to set aside a day dedicated to giving, similar to how Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become days that are synonymous with holiday shopping.

So, if you are again thinking of helping out those less fortunate than yourself and making a donation to a worthy cause then tomorrow I will bring you some tips to make sure that your money is donated wisely and most efficiently.

If you found today’s blog helpful, interesting, or even funny, I bet your friends would too.

Is there anything in the US news other than what's happening in the NCAA March Madness Tournament. When you sit down and think about it, the opening weekend of this year's tournament was one of the craziest first two rounds seen in a long time. But things are settled down now and with the weekend behind us, it's time to get set for the Sweet 16.

But you know, there's other news in the Baby Boomer world as well. Just click on this week's edition of the "Baby Boomer Guidebook" below and you'll be whisked away to a world of reality where life doesn't come to an abrupt end at the drop of a half court basket.

For instance, did you perhaps, just maybe, loose your pants so far betting on the first 2 rounds of the tournament? With all of the crazy upsets, I bet a lot of folks did. Well, there's a great article on why Baby Boomers will need to use their children's inheritance to live on aptly called"Baby Boomers Will Need to use Children’s Inheritance" by the fine folks at Money Management.Com. Unfortunately, one of the reasons is not because of excessive sports gambling.

There are also several great articles on how Baby Boomers are interacting with the world of Real Estate. Since I am also a Real Estate Agent in the Phoenix area I find these particular stories especially informative.

No, I don't think you can truly consider it a "Baby Boomer" comic strip. It wasn't around when we were kids like Family Circus, Beetle Bailey or Blondie. In fact, the comic strip didn't show up until November, 1985.

But, in a way, Calvin and Hobbes, forged a place in an important era of our Baby Boomer lives during a time when many of us were becoming adults and having families. I was 30 years old, newly married and blessed with a 5 year old son that exhibited most of the creative, mischievous and fanciful behaviors that Calvin was assembled from.

For the 10 years that Calvin and Hobbes was a leading syndicated comic strip, I considered it a primer for my fatherhood. I WAS the geeky, unsure Dad in glasses that was constantly struggling to stay one step ahead of his son's ingenuous and at times dangerous mind.

The other day I was rummaging through a box of my son's "stuff" that has been stored in our attic for the past 10 years and you know what? I came across a ratty and stained copy of the "Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes Treasury" that I had given him for his birthday back in the late 80's. I was drawn to read it once again.

My son and I WERE Calvin and his Dad. We shared so much of Bill Watterson's observations and flights of wild imagination it was scary.

In a funny way, as I looked back on some of those comics strips, I could pin point times and places in our lives that transpired around them.

The most disturbingly funny thing about reading these comics again was remembering the lessons I learned from them and most importantly the fundamental education I built from my relationship with my son. Many of these simple cartoon parables helped me stay one step ahead of my son.

So, as I sat in the garage the other day, I "dog-eared" 10 of my favorite Calvin and Hobbes "Life Lessons" that I wanted to share with my fellow Baby Boomers.

Obviously, there are hundreds more that should be re-read and savored. At the height of its popularity, Calvin and Hobbes was featured in over 2,400 newspapers worldwide.

And as a testament to it's staying power, as of January 2015, reruns of the strip still appear in newspapers and magazines in more than 50 countries.

It's no wonder that each of these strips below taught me a vital life lesson !!

ALWAYS PLAN AHEAD

FATE LOVES THE FEARLESS

WOMEN ARE SMARTER THEN MEN

LIFE IS THE BEST TEACHER

USE AGGRESSVE NEGOTIATION SKILLS

KNOW YOUR BUSINESS

IT'S EASIER TO BEG FOR FORGIVENESS THAN ASK FOR PERMISSION

ALWAYS CHOOSE TO BE GOOD

ALWAYS TAKE CHANCES

LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST

I'm sure Calvin's Dad learned a lot from his son. I know I did. And those lessons didn't go to waste. Now I am using my "Calvin and Hobbes" experience to stay one step ahead of my Grandkids.

Isn't life great !!

If you found today’s blog helpful, interesting, or even funny, I bet your friends would too.

Today is "Fervid Friday" the day for me to motivate and inspire Baby Boomers all over the world to a better life.

Normally, I do this by fine tuning, polishing up and redefining the disagreeable issues in your life.

Not today folks.

Oh, no !!

Today, I telling you that you need to tear apart your life and throw away the things that don't matter.

Life is too short.

If you are truly going to find your passion and place in life then it's time to "Let Go" of the dead weight that's holding you back.

Don't Be Afraid.

"5 Things You Need To Let Go Of"1. Let Go of the Stuff Let's look reality straight in the eyes.You have a job, a house, a nice yard with a pool, some classy patio furniture, a mortgage, a couple of cars, a couple of car loans, maybe a motorcycle, a Visa and an American Express card, monthly credit card balances, cable and 500 channels, high speed internet, a few more monthly bills and a closet full of clothes.Is that who you are?Is all of this material "stuff" going to help you find your passion and get you to the person you want to be?Or are you "trapped" by your "stuff" endlessly struggling to keep up?Open the cage door.Open the window.Get rid of the "stuff."

Starting today you should manage yourself and not your "stuff."

2. Let Go Of The Past I'm sure you have heard the phrase "Don't cry over spilled milk."There’s no use in holding on to and re-living the pains, frustrations and anxieties of the past. Realize that there were no failures.Misadventures......Yes.A few missteps and misfortunes........probably.Hey, take your "licking" and keep on "ticking."You can't improve yourself if you are constantly stressing about your past mistakes.Take some time to look at your past objectively.Make a list of what you could have done better. Then let go and move forward.

3. Let Go of the Rat Race There are a million distractions that prevent you from focusing on who you want to be and what is your true passion in life.Let me guess, your job leaves you too exhausted to even think about other ways to make a living.You've got no time to look at things a different way because you are too absorbed in meeting your monthly budget.And what free time you have is spent busily meeting mundane obligations with family and friends or shopping for new "stuff" that supposedly defines who you are.These are distractions from what you should really be doing.I'm not saying that you have to stop everything that you doing right now (unless that works for you) and make a 180 degree change in your life today.Just take a few days off to commit some time to re-evaluating your lifeGo somewhere peaceful and quiet for a few days. Consider what you truly value and see if it aligns with how you are currently spending your time and energy. While it is scary to let go, it is even scarier to concede your remaining years to the same distractions.

4. Let Go of Perfection The idea that you can control everyone and everything in your life will only lead to utter disappointment. Start living by a new credo "Good Enough is Good Enough."You don't have to please everybody.You don't need all of the money in the world.You don't have to be the best at everything.You don't have to have the coolest car in the neighborhood, the floors don't always have to be clean and shiny or the garden green and weed free.Become a student of "Feng Shui."There is true beauty to be embraced in imperfection.

5. Let Go of Others Expectations Let me ask you this:To be successful do you need to make an incredible salary, have the coolest car or the most luxurious house?Is this your definition or success or what others are expecting from you?Are you constantly trying to fit into a mold that others have built for you?Does being better than the next guy make you feel more secure?Nobody should be able to define the expectations of who you are and what you are other than you.Forget what other people think.Set "your" goals and "your" expectations.

That wasn't so bad was it?Am I asking for a lot from you?I don't think so.Do you have any dead weights that you need to let go of?Please share them in the comment section below.If you found my blog helpful, interesting or even funny (you sick bastard) I bet your friends would to.

Please forward it to them or tell them about it by clicking on theFaceBook"Like", "Twitter", "LinkedIn" or Emailsocial icon buttons below.

The more Baby Boomers we can help, the better place we make this world !!!

A day to honor what we consider most important in the true essence of our spirit.

A day to talk about.............................wait for it........................................BEER.

That’s right, beer.

How many times have you heard the phrase “I love beer?” Beer, it makes me a jolly good fellow. But did you know that beer can do many other things to improve your life other than making you a silver tongued romantic with the personality of Sean Connery and the dance moves of Fred Astaire? I didn’t either (I mean who needs more than just having to down a couple of beers to become Sean Connery?) until my friend Yolanda Jones posted a link (Thanks!) on Facebook that brought to my attention the many wonderful and awe inspiring attributes of this golden elixir. The original link comes from a blog written by Corina Dondas (Thanks!) for the website “All Women Stalk” (Thanks!). Here's the website if you want to check it out:http://diy.allwomenstalk.com/special-uses-for-beer-you-should-know-about

Who would think women would be so interested in and knowledgeable about the benefits of beer?

That’s just another reason men love women so much.

If beer is one of your favorite beverages, I must tell you that there are quite a few special and even surprising uses for beer that you could try around your house.

If you notice that you still have one bottle of beer left after that fabulous party you threw last night, don’t drink it because you can actually use it in a large variety of ways.

So, here are a few special uses for beer that will make you buy an extra 6-pack the next time you do your groceries:

The Benefits of Beer

1. Polish Your Jewelry In my opinion, of the most spectacular and most helpful uses for beer is the fact that it can polish your jewelry, making it sparkle again. Just use a light ale and a clean towel and rub it gently over that beautiful piece of jewelry you want to polish. Beer’s natural acids will help you bring back the shine to your gold jewelry. You can also use it to clean wooden furniture or you can even try this on tarnished copper pots as well.

2. It Can Boost Your Hair’s Shine Another wonderful thing you can do with beer is to simply wash your beautiful hair with it and it will boost its shine. Pour some beer on your hair, let it sit for a few minutes and then just rinse it out. You could also use more complex recipes like these for example: Mix one cup of lager with one egg yolk, massage into strands, leave it for a few minutes and then rinse it offor You could boil a cup of beer until it has reduced to about ¼ cup, then simply mix it with a cup of your shampoo and wash your hair with it.

3. It Can Remove Coffee Or Tea Stains Among the many benefits of this wonderful beverage, beer also has the ability to remove coffee or tea stains from your rugs or even from your clothes. Just pour a little beer right on top of that stain, rub it lightly into the material and the stain should simply disappear. Don’t get discouraged if you can’t seem to get that stain out on your first try; you may have to repeat that entire process a couple of times , so you’ll be able to remove all traces of a stubborn stain.

4. Soften up Meat You can also use beer when you cook, since it will soften up even the toughest meat. Just pour a can or a bottle over the meat and then just let it soak in for about an hour before cooking. Also, you can use beer as an overnight marinade. Just add some soy sauce or some other Asian sauce to the beer. You can even put that beer in your slow cooker with your meat and I’m sure you’ll be surprised by the results.

5. It Can Fertilize Your GardenBeer has a lot of extracts that are extremely good for plants, like yeast for example. To use it as a fertilizer, just pour the beer onto your garden and that will do it. You can use those leftover half-drunk cans or bottles of beer from that wonderful party you threw last night and put them to good use. Also, your vegetables and flowers will surely enjoy all those sugars that are found in beer, so why throw it away when you can use it to make your garden look healthier.

6. It Will Get Rid of MiceBeer will even help you take care of that mouse problem you might be dealing with. Just put an inch or so of beer in a pail, and then place some type of ramp (a piece of wood for the mice to crawl up). The mechanism of this trap consists in the fact that the mouse will fall into that pail, will drink the beer and then you can simply remove it to some place outside. It’s the most humane method of catching mice I’ve ever heard of, so give it a try in case you have to deal with such a problem.

7. It Will Trap Snails And Slugs You should know that snails and slugs find beer to be quite irresistible, just like some humans do. If you’re having a problem with them or if your garden is under attack, just bury an empty juice container in the area where you’ve seen them, pour in about half of can of leftover beer and then just leave it overnight. The next morning, you will probably find a hoard of them drunk and drowned. (Well, I don’t know if I would use this method because it seems to be rather cruel, but maybe some of you would disagree and you might find if very effective.

8. It Can Soothe An Upset Tummy I was quite surprised to find out that you can actually use beer to soothe your upset stomach, but apparently it really works and it’s also one of the most effective hangover cures out there. Just by slowly sipping a can of beer, you can soothe your upset tummy. The alcohol in it has an anesthetic effect and it will help alleviate the pain. Despite all this, you shouldn’t use this trick if you have an ulcer or gastritis because I’m sure you wouldn’t want to make it worse.

9. You Can Soak in It Beer is a very effective skin conditioner, so the next time you are taking a bath, just add a can or a bottle of beer (especially dark beer) to the water and have a long soak in it. Apparently, this is a good alternative to adding salt crystals, but you can even combine them if you want and I’m sure you’ll obtain even better results. It will make your skin softer since your body will absorb all those minerals from the beer.

I bet most of my male Survive 55 Baby Boomer followers just thought that the only thing beer did was to make you bigger, stronger and more attractive to the fairer sex.I bet most of my female Survive 55 Baby Boomer followers just thought that the only thing beer did was to make men THINK they were bigger, stronger and more attractive to women.Do you have any other clever uses for this magnificent product?If you do, please add them to my comments section below and share the wonders of beer.

If you found today’s blog helpful, interesting, or even funny, I bet your friends would too.

The other day, I ran across the incredible poem "IF" by Rudyard Kipling and felt compelled to post it on my blog for your enjoyment. Probably 40 years have passed since I first read that poem. It's amazing how much more the words mean now than they did when I read them as a younger man. In fact, in some not so small way, this epic lyric has changed my life.

Today, and going forward I will heed the advice offered by Mr. Kipling.

Today, and going forward I will build my life with my "worn-out tools."

Today, and going forward I will be a man.

So, what does it mean to be a man?

I decided to research this question to see what the modern world has to say.

As fate would have it, one of the first articles of advice I ran across was the very popular "Guide to Being a Man" conceived by the fine folks at the global banking and investment firm Goldman Sachs. As you’d expect from Goldman Sachs, there’s a distinct stiff upper lip, Wall Street swagger, BMW driven, starched white collar sensibility to many of these insightful proverbs.

I know, you are probably ready to shout at me that you have grown extremely tired of the endless offerings of lists and how-to guides that are rampant with clever cliches and devoid of any true common sense.

Well, this is probably one list you won't hate as much as you thought you would after reading, and re-reading it.
I don't agree with all of these suggestions but I found a few interesting scraps of wisdom. Apparently, a healthy dose of confidence and even arrogance is a prerequisite to being a "modern man."

You know, you probably will never find me fly fishing but I am willing to stop taking "selfies" and I may just experiment with having a glass of wine with lunch.

Hopefully, you will also find few practical pointers below that are worth adopting into your lifestyle.

Author

Jay Lickus was born in 1956 in the harmonious and affableMarquette Parkneighborhood on the South side of Chicago. He attended 12 years of Catholic school and graduated from the University of Illinois. He began his professional career as a paperboy (didn't we all) and matured quickly working his way though numerous menial jobs - factory worker, kitchen helper, pizza maker (not a bad gig), shipping and receiving clerk and go figure, a house painter. During college he started his own painting and contracting company. In the late 80's he moved to Los Angeles to begin a sales career in the paint and coatings industry. In 2012, after 10 years as a top notch sales representative and another decade or so as a blue chip Sales Manager, he was unceremoniously kicked to the curb like an unwanted old piece of furniture ( I humorously embellish for effect) only to begin his new path to a better and more satisfying life. Jay currently resides in Surprise, AZ building a prosperous Real Estate business. He has four wonderful kids and 7 glorious grandchildren scattered across the U.S. As of today, he is one very happy man !!